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Looking beyond the systematic review.
In this article, the author aims to provide a descriptive insight into the array of review methodologies available beyond the typical literature or systematic review and offer a reference point for those undertaking or interpreting reviews.
Healthcare professionals are tasked with providing evidence-based care. The standards of proficiency for the Health & Care Professions Council require practitioners across all disciplines to have a knowledge of research methodologies and to be able to evaluate research, recognise the value of it and apply relevant research to their practice1,2. To this end all of those involved in radiography, from undergraduate students to seasoned researchers, newly qualified practitioners to policymakers, must have the skill set to search, synthesise and summarise the current knowledge base on a given topic.
Evidence-based practice places a great importance on the retrieval of appropriate information. The most frequent method of achieving knowledge synthesis is often referred to as 'literature review'. It is a term used commonly in academic circles and regularly used interchangeably with the term 'systematic review'. Yet in reality at least 27 different terms have been identified across just four journal papers and two web-based resources which were found using a simple search of the university EBESCO based electronic search facility3-7.
The plethora of terminology can be confusing and, coupled with the increasing access to electronic databases, result in monumental tasks for those wishing to examine the current knowledge base in some areas. The 'systematic review', with its explicit pre-specified research question and detailed search protocol aims to summarise evidence in a non-biased manner and has long been seen as the 'gold standard'. But whilst it is acknowledged that it is erroneous to assume systematic reviewing applies solely to empirical quantitative data8, researchers should be aware of the multiplicity of methods at their disposal.
WHY DO WE NEED REVIEWS?
According the Oxford English Dictionary9 a review is 'To view, inspect, or examine a second time or again'.
The goal of conducting a review is to synthesise the knowledge offered by a range of studies in a particular topic of interest. The need for interrogation of current knowledge might be to guide policymakers, inform health and care providers, assist with planning or drive treatment improvements.
The first...